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Duterte will no longer ride jet ski to PH Rise
FILE: The President will no longer push through with his plan to ride a jet ski during his visit to the Philippine Rise, formerly known as Benham Rise, on Tuesday, May 15. (KARL NORMAN ALONZO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)
The President will no longer push through with his plan to ride a jet ski during his visit to the Philippine Rise, formerly known as Benham Rise, on Tuesday, May 15.
Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go said that he and presidential son, Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, would be riding jet skis on behalf of President Rodrigo Duterte.
No reason yet why Duterte did not continue with his previous plan.
Palace staff earlier said that the Chief Executive might board a personal watercraft when he visits the resource-rich waters today.
Images taken by media showed that there at least seven jet skis aboard the Philippine Navy’s BRP Davao del Sur, which will be used during the visit.
On May 8, Malacañang confirmed that Duterte will be going to the Philippine Rise to commemorate the first anniversary of its renaming from Benham Rise. He is also expected to send off 50 Filipino scientists who will conduct research in the area.
Duterte, during the 2016 campaign, vowed to ride a jet ski to the Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) to assert the Philippines’ sovereignty over the area.
However, he later said that this remark was only a joke but assured that the Philippines, under his watch, would not give up any of its claims in the region.
“Iyong sabi ko mag-jet ski ako doon sa China, ay kalokohan ‘yon (When I said I would go to China on a jet ski, that was only a joke). Wala gani akong (I do not even have) heaven road. Istorya lang man ‘yon. Maniwala pala kayo (It is just a talk. I’m surprised you believed it),” he stressed in a speech in Davao City last March.
It was in 2012 when the United Nations (UN) awarded Benham Rise — a 13-million-hectare area undersea region east of Luzon — to the Philippines, granting the country’s “sovereign rights” over the area.
